Custodian at Somerset school arrested on child pornography charges

Thursday

SOMERSET — A custodian at Somerset Berkley Regional High School was arrested on charges of child pornography Wednesday, police report.

Miguel Pereira, of Somerset, was arrested at the high school at 9:30 p.m. following an investigation by police and the state Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Police allege the task force found child pornography being shared from Pereira’s home internet address. Officers searched his home before arresting him, police report.

Pereira was arraigned Thursday morning in District Court on the charges of disseminating child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Bail had not yet been set as the court attempted to determine Pereira’s finances, though attorneys sought to hold Pereira on $10,000 cash bail, while his attorney asked the court to release him on personal recognizance.

"My client is devastated by these charges and he denies the charges,” attorney Michael DiGioia said.

Police officials say more details will be released later on Thursday, but the chairwoman of Somerset’s kindergarten to Grade 8 School Committee said she has been told that no students were involved in the material found by police.

“I just received info from Chief McNeil that our K12 students were not part of pornographic material confiscated,” Melissa Terra wrote in a Facebook post Thursday morning.

Terra said the school department’s administration is working with police “on getting the information necessary to answer questions regarding the custodian incident.”

In a message sent to families, Supt. Jeffrey Schoonover said all hiring procedures were properly followed and confirmed that it does not appear any high school students were involved.

“As many of you have heard the disturbing news, a high school custodian was arrested last night at SBRHS on charges of possessing and disseminating child pornography,” Schoonover said in the message. “The Somerset Police Department has confirmed that, at this time, there does not appear to be any involvement of any high school student. The custodian has been placed on leave pending the District’s receipt of further information regarding the status of this matter.

“The custodian, who was hired approximately five weeks ago, worked the weekday shift from 3:00 PM - 11:00 PM. Employment in the Somerset Berkley Regional School District is contingent upon a successful background check, which includes a state CORI and a national fingerprint background check. All hiring procedures were appropriately followed for this individual.”

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